Prior to the arrival of Secretary Christopher and in the wake of the Beit
Lid attack, President Clinton sent a letter to Chairman Arafat stressing
the need for the Palestinian Authority to take massive security measures
to prevent future attacks arising from Gaza or Jericho. When Arafat
announced his clear position on the issue of security, the road was open
for the resumption of talks for the attainment of the second stage as
prescribed in the Oslo I agreement. In addition to dealing with
Israel-Palestinian talks, Mr. Christopher was also due to travel to
Damascus to try and accelerate the peace process with Syria.
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Foreign Minister Peres: Let me say here at the outset: Our greatest
problem in the negotiations with the Palestinian Authority from our
standpoint was the security matter. I think from the Palestinian side, it
was really scheduling and organizing the continuation of the negotiations
about the second stage. We were greatly helped by the President of the
United States, President Clinton, sending a letter to Chairman Arafat
emphasizing the issue and the importance of the issue of security and the
Secretary calling up, from time to time, both the Palestinians and
ourselves, urging us to deblock the negotiations on the Palestinian side.
I do believe that both the letter of the President and the intervention of
the Secretary were of great help and actually today, it was really a
reopening in a very serious way the whole Palestinian story.
Chairman Arafat has announced in a very detailed way his position on
security and we on our side suggested a list of confidence-building
measures, together with a philosophy about negotiations and I am very glad
that the principles were accepted and so we have an opened-up situation. I
do hope it will help the Secretary on his very important mission going
around to Jordan, to Syria, because my impression is that in the eyes of
many of the Arab countries the deblocking of the Palestinian issue is of
great importance. And so we are all in a real coordination in time and
content and I do hope that when the Secretary will meet tomorrow Mr.
Arafat, he will bring to a very clear conclusion the issues of security
and the continuation of the negotiations. In the name of the Israeli
Government, I want to welcome you, Warren, very heartily.
Secretary Christopher: As always, I am delighted to be back here in Israel
and to have a chance to talk with both the Prime Minister and the Foreign
Minister. Of course, I return here at a time of great challenge in the
peace process. Although events are changing and challenges are changing,
our goal is always the same; we are seeking a comprehensive peace. We are
seeking a more secure Israel in a more stable region, which is freed of
the threat of war that has hung over this whole region for so long. We do
not underestimate the problems that we face on this trip in trying to help
the parties move toward peace, but nevertheless, I think that we have the
opportunity to move forward.
With respect to the comments that the Foreign Minister has just made, I
congratulate him and his team for their progress in unblocking the
negotiations. We welcome that development. We think that it is very
important that the negotiations do go forward and do succeed and we will
be doing every thing we can to assist in that. Today's problems are
difficult, but in finding an answer to them we will not rest until we
achieve a real peace in this region. If we were to abandon this, or if the
parties were to regard themselves as being at a dead-end, that would be no
solution at all. That would be a solution only for increased tension and
increased terror in the region. There is no turning back. The only issue
is how we move forward. The real question is how can we move forward and
ensure at the same time Israel's security, which has always been primary.
That simply is non-negotiable from our standpoint. We think that Israel
must have real peace with its neighbors. Peace and security are the two
elements that we must try to achieve together.
The news that the Foreign Minister has brought today is very welcome. Both
the Palestinians and the Israelis are now seeking to meet each other's
needs and unquestionably that is the issue. That is the dilemma for both
of them. We must find some way to enable the parties to fulfill their
commitment to preempt and fight against terror and at the same time to
further economic development and elections that have been so long wanted
and so long promised. We must find ways, together with the Israelis and
the other members of the community, to improve economic conditions in Gaza
and Jericho and in the West Bank as a whole. The United States is prepared
to take some new steps to this end and I will be talking with the Israelis
about how we can cooperate in taking those steps.
The Foreign Minister briefly referred to the situation regarding Syria.
The parties face difficult decisions there. We will be talking about how
those decisions might be taken and how we can accelerate that process too.
Because we need to try to achieve here a peace of the brave - a peace that
will end the threat of war on Israel's border - to provide the kind of
security that only peace can provide. The trouble that Israel has with its
neighbors in this situation is a long road. It is a search that did not
begin yesterday and it will not end tomorrow. Difficult decisions will be
required by all the parties.
The United States, I want to emphasize, will be here for the long pull.
Our commitment to Israel's security, as I have always said - and I want to
emphasize again on this trip - is unshakable. We will seek to give aid to
those who take risks for peace, as we have in the past. We will try to
fulfill our historic role to assist those who reach out for peace. This
set of meetings is being launched by the very welcome news that the
Foreign Minister has brought and I hope that we can make some significant
progress in the course of my trip here.
Shimon, thank you so much for coming here. I look forward to our series of
discussions over the next several days. Thank you very much.